Sluice rack cleaner



mmh im m@ R scHmPAK ET AL. @wp@ SLUIGE RACK CLEANER l Juners' 2Sheeiss-Shaat 1 ATTORNEY mmh l 3% R. SCHLAPAK m AL g@ SLUICE RACKCLEANER Filed June 8, 1933 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTORS f ATTORNEY f'Patented Mar. 10, 1936 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE SLUICE RACK CLEANERApplication June 8, 1933, Serial No. 674,970

7 Claims.

This invention relates to improvements in automatic apparatus forcleaning a straining rack of a sluiceway or flume, and more particularlyto a machine for intermittently raking debris from the bars of saidstraining rack.

One object of this invention is to provide a cleaning device of theabove nature having a reciprocating rake which operates on its upstroketo clean the flume rack.

A further object is to provide a fiume rack cleaning device of the abovenature having means for ejecting all of the debris collected by saidrake, when the latter is at the top of its stroke.

A further object is to provide a device of the above nature which willbe comparatively simple in construction, inexpensive to manufacture,easy to install and manipulate, compact, and very efiiicent and durablein use.

With these and other objects in view ythere have been illustrated on theaccompanying drawings, two forms in which the invention may beconveniently embodied in practice.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 represents a front elevation of the sluicerack cleaner.

Fig. 2 is a right end view of the same, with the motor unit andsupporting bracket removed.

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary perspective view showing one of the worm shaftsand the reciprocating rake as it appearswhen approaching its uppermostextremity.

Fig. 4 is a detail view of the mechanism for ejecting the debriscollected by the rake.

Fig. 5 is a plan view of the spring jaws forming a part of thedebris-ejecting means.

Fig. 6 is a sectional view of a modified form of ejecting means.

Referring now to the drawings in which like reference numerals denotecorresponding parts throughout the several views, the numeral Iindicates a flume channel or sluice-way through which water is adaptedto flow for any desired purpose, as for supplying power to a powerplant. At the open end II of the sluice-way, provision is made of aslightly inclined grating or rack A comprising a plurality of spacedparallel bars I2. The rack A serves to prevent all floating matter, suchas sticks, and leaves, from passing into said sluice-way,

Located in front of the rack A on opposite sides thereof are a pair ofinclined worm shafts I3 and I4 having their lower ends journaled in apair of bearings I and I6 secured to a horizontal cross member or beamIl positioned at the base of said rack. The upper ends of the wormshafts I3 and I4 are journaled in a similar pair of bearings I8 and I9secured at the opposite ends of a cross `beam 20. The beam 29 issupported in a horizontal position above the sluiceway and rack A bymeans of a frame structure ZI which is preferably supported by means ofa pair of angle irons 22 and 23 made rigid with the side walls of thesluice-way I0.

Motion is transmitted to the worm shafts I3 and I4 through a pair ofworm wheels 24 and 25 secured to the top extremities of said shafts I3and I4 above the bearings I5 and I6, said wheels 24 and 25 being adaptedto engage a pair of worms 26 and 2l. The worms 26 and 2'I are rigid on ahorizontal power shaft 28 rotatably journaled in a pair of bearingblocks 29 and 30 superimposed on the frame 2|, and said shaft 28 isadapted to be driven from any suitable source of power, such as anelectric motor 3I, to which said shaft 28 is coupled by means of aflexible Coupling 32.

The motor 3| is of the reversible type and is electrically connectedthrough a cable 33 to a switch unit 34. Both the motor 3| and switch 34are supported on a frame bracket 35 attached to the right-hand side ofthe sluice-way I0, as viewed in Fig. 1.

Reciprocating rake The rake mechanism, which is illustrated in Figs. land 2, adjacent the end of its down-stroke,

Vis driven up and down by a pair of traveling nuts or worm blocks 36 and31 engaged on the opposite worm shafts I3 and I4. The blocks 36 and 31are connected by a horizontal rake bar 39 and a heavy cylindrical shaft38 parallel to said bar 39. 'Ihe rake bar 39 has its opposite ends 40bent rearwardly to form bearings for pivotal engagement on the shaft 38.

A plurality of rearwardly projecting tooth members 4I are secured on theforward end of the bar 39, as by riveting. The front extremities of theteeth 4I are curved upwardly, as shown in Fig. 2, and are adapted toproject between the adjacent bars I 2 of the grating or rack A.

During'the up-stroke of the rake mechanism, the rake bar 39 and itsattached teeth 4I are operative to remove the debris from the grating A.The bar 39 of the rake is adapted to be locked in this position by meansof a pair of angular spring members 42 secured to the underside of theworm blocks 36 and 3l and having attached to their upper free ends apair of offset detent dogs 43. The dogs 43 in turn are engaged in a pairof catch recesses 44 formed in the upper edges of the journaled ends 40,and said dogs 43 serve to effectively hold the rake bar 39 in theposition shown in Fig. 2 until the rake mechanism approaches the end ofits up-stroke, in which case the dogs 43 are automatically released fromthe recesses 44 by means of a pair of resilient curved strips 45attached t0 the bearings I8 and I9v The strips are in vertical alinementwith the dogs 43 and as the rake mechanism approaches the limit of itsup-stroke, the lower ends 46 of said strips 45 engage a pair ofshoulders 4l (see Fig. 3) on the dogs 43 and force the latter out of therecesses 44. When thus released, the rake bar 39 will swing about theshaft 38 and drop to the depending position shown in Fig. 4.

The rake bar 39 will remain in the depending position during the entiredown-stroke, and at the end of said stroke will be relocked in itsnormal raking position by striking against a curved deflecting bracket48 secured to the base of the sluiceway I0. The rake will be therebyrocked 96 degrees about the supporting shaft 38 until the dogs 43 areagain caught by the catch recesses 44, whereby the rake will be held inthe normal position, shown in Fig. 2, for the up-stroke.

In order to cause the rake to reverse its motion at the end of each upand down stroke, provision is made of a long slender reversing rod 49,rigidly secured to the side of the worm blocks 31 and extending upwardlyparallel to and alongside the right-hand worm shaft |4. The rod 46 isslidably mounted within a switch-operating arm 56 extending out of theswitch unit 34. The rod 49 is provided adjacent its upper and lower endswith a pair of adjustable collars 5| and 52.

As will be clear -from this construction, the lowermost collar 52 willengage the switch arm at the top of the up-stroke, and move it to theposition shown by dotted lines in Fig. l, reversing the direction ofrotation of the motor 3|, and causing the rake mechanism to start on thedown-stroke, at the end of which the uppermost collar 5| on the rod 49will engage the arm 50 to move the switch downwardly and again reversethe motor 3|.

Rake cleaning mechanism In order to clean off the debris from the teeth4| of the rake bar 39 at the top of each upstroke, provision is made ofan ejector bar 53 carrying a plurality of teeth 54. The bar 53 has itsends 55 bent at right-angles, and said ends are pivotally supported on ahorizontal shaft 56. 'Ihe shaft 56 in turn is rotatably journaled in apair of bearing brackets 51 secured to the top part of the iiume I0.Attached to the left-hand end of the shaft 56, as viewed in Fig. l, is asubstantially large worm wheel 58 intermeshed with a worm pinion 59attached to the lower end of an oblique stud shaft 60 (see Fig. 2). Theoblique shaft 66 is supported by means of a frame 6| attached to theflume D and is rotatably driven by means of a worm wheel 62 attached tothe upper end of said shaft 60, said wheel 62 meshing with the worm 26on the power shaft 28. The gear ratio between the Worm wheel 58 and thedriving pinion 59 is such that the shaft 56 makes one completerevolution during each stroke of the rake mechanism.

The normal position of the ejector bar 53 is shown in Figs. l and 2, andwhen the rake is at the top of its up-stroke, the bar 53 will beautomatically swung suddenly in a clockwise direction about the shaft 56for cleaning the dbris from the rake teeth anad delivering it into achute 64 located at one side thereof.

During the up-stroke of the rake mechanism, the horizontal shaft 56 willrotate in a clockwise direction, as viewed in Figs. 2 and 4, and whileit is thus rotating, the ejector bar 53 will be held in the normalposition shown in Fig. 2

by means of a pair of spring gripping fingers 65 (Fig. 5), having tightfrictional engagement with a pair of extended knife edge ends 66 formingintegral parts of the bent ends 55. The shaft 56 is provided with atransverse projecting pin 61 which is adapted to engage said bar 53 forrotating it with the shaft 56 to release the ends 66 from the grippinglingers 65, whereupon the bar 53 will be rapidly rotated in a clockwisedirection about the shaft 56 by the influence of a spring 63.

During the down-stroke of the rake mechanism, the shaft 56 will berotated in a counterclockwise direction, and just prior to the end ofsaid stroke, the pin 61 will kstrike against the opposite side of thedischarge bar 53, and again force the knife blade ends 66 into thefingers 65 to hold said bar 53 in its normal position, the spring 63being thus fully wound up during said up-stroke (see Fig. 4).

Operation In the operation of the flume cleaner, during the up-stroke,the teeth 4| of the rake bar 39 will collect any sticks, or other dbriswhich may be caught on the grating A, carrying such dbris to a positiondirectly in front of the ejector bar 53 at the top of the up-stroke. Atthis time, the bar 53 will be automatically released from the grippingfingers 65, permitting the teeth 54 to spin around the shaft 56 andthrow the dbris into the chute 64.

As the rake mechanism continues its upward stroke, the lower camsections 46 of the two releasing members 45 Will strike the shoulders 41of the detent dogs 43 and force said dogs out of the recesses 44. Therake bar 39 will thus be allowed to drop to the swinging dependingineffective position shown in Fig. 4. After the rake bar 39 has thusbeen released, the lower collar 52 on the reversing rod 49 will strikethe arm 56 of the switch unit 34, and reverse the motor 3|. The rake bar39 will then proceed in its down-stroke, and as it approaches the bottomthereof, it will be engaged by the curved deflecting bracket 48 androtated about the shaft 38 in a counterclockwise direction until thedetent dogs 43 are snapped into the catch recesses 44 for locking therake bar in its normal raking position. Immediately thereafter, the topcollar 5| on the rod 49 will engage the arm 56 and cause the switchmechanism to again reverse the direction of the motor 3|. This cycle ofoperations continues as long as desired, and the grating A will bemaintained free from debris for permitting an unobstructed stream ofwater to flow through the flume |0.

M odijed form In the modified form of the invention shown in Fig. 6, theconstruction is identical in all rcspects to the first except in theform of the ejector mechanism. In the modified form, the ejector iscaused to operate with a delayed action, which is effected by means of acam 68 rigidly mounted on the shaft 56 outside of the ejector bar 53. Aradial arm 69 is attached to the shaft 56 adjacent the cam 66 and isadapted to normally extend forwardly into alinement with an abutmentroller 16 journaled in the upper end of a supporting plate 1|. The plate1| is attached securely to the worm block 36.

A roller I2 is supported on the bifurcated end 13 of a reciprocating barI4 slidably fitted in a housing 15 secured to the top of the flume |6.

The reciprocatory bar 14 is preferably made square to prevent rotationand is provided upon its inner end with a piston head 16 for abut mentagainst a substantially heavy helical spring 'ii' contained with acylindrical chamber 13 in the housing 15. The tension of the spring 11may be adjusted to any desired degree by means of another piston head 19engaging the opposite end of said spring Vi and supported on the end ofa toothed bar Se. The bar 8i) is engaged by a pinion di which may bemanually operated by a hand wheel 82 for causing the piston head I9 tomove in the chamber T8. When adjusted properly, the hand wheel 82 may belocked by any suitable holding device (not shown).

In the operation of the modiiied form of the invention, at the top ofthe up-stroke of the rake mechanism, the abutment roller 'id carried bythe worm block 3B will engage the arm 69 and rotate the shaft 55 and itsattached ejector bar 53 through an angle of substantially i5 degreesfrom the full line position to the dotted line position shown in Fig. 6.During this rotation of the shaft 5G, the plunger bar 14 and head 'itwill be forced rearwardly to compress the spring 'il within the chamber13. At the moment that the roller 'IEB leaves the arm 6d in itsup-stroke, the cam roller 12 will ride over the nose SS of the cam E8,and the spring 'I1 will come into action for causing the shaft 56 torapidly rotate. Any debris which may be collected on the teeth 54 of thebar 53 will be thus thrown rearwardly away from the flume grating l i.

While there have been disclosed in this speciiication two forms in whichthe invention may be embodied, it is to be understood that these formsare shown for the purpose of illustration only, and that the inventionis not to be limited to the specific disclosures, but may be modifiedand embodied in various other forms without departing from its spirit.In short, the invention includes all the modications and embodimentscoming within the scope of the following claims.

I-Iaving thus fully described the invention, what is claimed as new, andfor which it is desired to secure Letters Patent, is:

1. In an apparatus for cleaning a fiume grat- A ing, a pair ofreversible vertical rotatable worm shafts located on opposite sides ofthe flume opening, a pair of traveling nuts mounted on said shafts andsupporting a rake therebetween, and means for causing said rake tocollect the debris from said grating while said rake is on its upstroke,and spring actuated oscillatory means for ejecting said dbris with aquick impetus from said rake at the top of said up-stroke. 2. In anapparatus for cleaning a flume grating, a pair of reversible verticalrotatable worm shafts located on opposite sides of the nume opening, apair of traveling nuts mounted on said shafts and supporting a raketherebetween, and means for causing said rake to collect the dbris fromsaid grating while said rake is on its upstroke, and detent-lockedspring-actuated oscillatory means for suddenly ejecting said dbris fromsaid rake at the top of said up-stroke.

3. In an apparatus for cleaning a flume grating, a rake structureincluding a horizontal rod and a rake bar pivotally mounted thereonhaving a series of projecting teeth, means for vertically reciprocatingsaid rake structure in front of said rod so as to be clear of saidgrating during the down-stroke thereof.

4. In an apparatus for cleaning a flume grating, a rake structureincluding a horizontal rod and a rake bar pivotally mounted thereonhaving a series of projecting teeth, means for vertically reciprocatingsaid rake structure in front of said grating, means for locking saidrake bar upon said rod during its upward stroke whereby said teeth willproject through said grating for collecting debris therefrom,oscillatory means located at the top of said grating for clearing thedebris from said rake teeth and discharge the same forwardly from saidgrating at the top o the up-stroke of said rake. f

5. In an apparatus for cleaning a flume grating, a pair of reversiblevertical rotatable Worm shafts located on opposite sides o-f thegrating, a pair of traveling nut blocks mounted on said shafts on thesame horizontal plane, a rake supporting member located in front of saidgrating and carried by said blocks, a rake bar on said supporting memberhaving a series of projecting teeth, means carried by said blocks forholding said rake bar in front of said grating with its teeth projectingthrough said grating during its up-stroke, means operative at the end ofthe upstroke for automatically swinging the rake bar to cause the teethto lie outside of said grating during the down-stroke thereof, meanslocated at the bottom of the grating for automatically resetting therake bar in debris-collecting position upon the support member at theend of its downstroke, and rocking means behind said grating at the topthereof for removing the debris from the teeth of said rake at the endof each upstroke and ejecting said debris forwardly away from saidgrating.

6. In an apparatus for cleaning a flume grating, a rake in front of saidgrating including a series of teeth, means for vertically reciprocatingsaid rake for causing the teeth of said rake tocollect debris from saidgrating during the upstroke of said rake, and power-driven oscillatoryrake-cleaning means located at the top of and behind said grating forautomatically clearing the debris from said teeth and for discharging itforwardly from said grating at the end of the up-stroke of said rake.

7. In an apparatus for cleaning a flume grating, a rake located in frontof said grating, means for reciprocating said rake up and down to removedebris from said grating during the upstroke thereof, oscillatory meansbehind said grating for cleaning said rake at the top of its stroke anddischarging the debris forwardly, and means for causing the teeth ofsaid rake to lie in vertical inactive position during the downstroke.

RUDOLPH SCHLAPAK. HENRY A. SCHLAPAK.

